ASOIF launches vision on future of sport

With a report entitled ‘Future of Global Sport’, released on Thursday, the Association of Olympic Summer Sports Federations (ASOIF) lays out a vision for the next 20 years in sport. The conclusion is clear: Sport needs to change. Without a change, sports federations will not be able to preserve their status as governing bodies of sport in a “disrupted and competitive landscape”.

Through interviews with stakeholders from sport, business and public authorities, ASOIF presents history, perspectives and expectations for international sports organisations in terms of political, legal, economical and technological developments.

“ASOIF has invested significant resources in this project and we believe the results will help IFs to better understand, anticipate and react to the changes and trends confronting them,” said ASOIF president Francesco Riti Bitti in a press release from AOIF. “In fact, some of the outlined future scenarios may serve as a wake-up call.”

According to the report, sports federations “must demonstrate exemplary standard of governance” if they want to maintain the confidence of its stakeholders. Sports organisations are also encouraged to engage more with both private and public entities to adapt to the evolving event model. The report further recommends that sports bodies offer athletes ‘greater incentives to compete in established events’.

Without these and other changes, sport risks losing acceptance as bodies capable of governing and administering their sports, the report concludes.

“This report invites us all to challenge our thinking at ASOIF and encourage our members to challenge their own,” Riti Bitti says about the report

Read the report:
Future of Global Sport